Hull KR’s semi-final victory over St Helens last Saturday evening attracted the best-ever viewing figures of any Super League play-off tie, barring Grand Finals.
Last Saturday’s semi-final was broadcast live by both the
BBC and Sky Sports, and delivered record-breaking numbers, it’s been confirmed.
The BBC’s sky-high viewing figures from
KR‘s semi-final victory had already been revealed.
Shown live on BBC Two with a 5.30pm kick-off, coverage began 15 minutes prior with host Tanya Arnold joined by pundits Kevin Brown and Mike McMeeken, the latter – of course – also being Wakefield Trinity’s captain.
On the BBC alone, the semi-final’s audience peaked at 455,000 – with an average audience of 321,000.
Sky‘s standalone numbers have not been revealed, but when you combine the two broadcaster’s figures, the game becomes the highest-watched Super League play-off tie ever.
That’s excluding Grand Finals, which you might expect, but is still some achievement given that the
Super League play-offs have taken place each year since 1998, with over 100 ties now on that list.
Sky will have exclusive access to broadcast this weekend’s Super League Grand Final live from Old Trafford between Wigan and Hull KR.
As part of their broadcast deal, the BBC will produce an hour-long show – including highlights of the Grand Final – which will be aired on BBC Two the following day (Sunday, October 12) between 1 and 2pm.
Elsewhere, it’s been announced that Saturday evening’s Super League showpiece is set to be shown across five countries in eastern Europe and the Baltic States as part of a new deal with Sport Media Group brokered by
IMG.
This year’s Grand Final will be screened live in Ukraine, Moldova, Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia as well as in German across Germany, Austria and Switzerland through Sportdigital.
Australia and the USA will be able to watch via Fox Sports, Canada via SportsNet, across the Caribbean via SportsMax, through the Pacific via Digicel, in South East Asia via Premier Sports and in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) via Dubai TV.
Hull KR's semi-final victory over St Helens last Saturday evening attracted the best-ever viewing figures of any Super League play-off tie.
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